Stilt house building, Zhuang brocade, bronze drums, “tiaoshi” worship dance, delayed-domicile marriage (a custom of not moving in with the husband immediately after the wedding), teknonymy (the practice of referring to parents by the names of their children), and secondary burial (bone cleaning)—strictly speaking, none of these cultural characteristics is unique to the Zhuang people, but they are rather mutual characteristics of the various ethnic groups in southern and southwestern China. For instance, the Dong people, who also belong to the Tai-Kadai language family, also have gan-lan architecture, silk, nuo performances, and the custom of not letting the wife live at her husband’s house.21
These similar characteristics may have been shaped in the process of different ethnic groups adapting to the same living environment or through influencing one another. The interaction between these ethnic groups is worth studying, and although some characteristics may seem alike, they may hold different meanings for different ethnic communities. I shall discuss these characteristics in this section.
Stilt House Building
Stilt house building refers to a type of three-story wooden structure that is generally known to have been invented by the peoples in southern China to adapt to the local climate. The first story above ground level is used to keep poultry and other farm animals, the second story is inhabited by humans, and the third story is for storage of grains and other food because it is the driest and has the best ventilation. Residents of these stilt house buildings usually collect their construction material locally; the main structure of a building is wood, while the outside walls are made of dirt or hollow bricks and the interior partitions are slabs of wood or bamboo. Most roofs are covered with clay tiles, but in earlier days dried straw was used instead.22
Refer to Qin Cai-Luan, 1998, Zhuang zu ganlan wenhua (Nanning: Guangxi Minzu Chubanshe).
Zhuang Brocade
The Zhuang people’s weaving skills are reflected in their silk textiles. Zhuang brocade was mentioned in documents of the Song Dynasty, and in the Ming Dynasty listed as a tributary item. Every Zhuang woman’s dowry must include a quilt cover made of Zhuang brocade, which is also widely used on accessories of clothing, most commonly head wraps. The Zhuang brocades that we see now are either woven solely of cotton thread, or a mixture of cotton and silk threads. There are two pieces of Zhuang brocade from the Qing Dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing. One is a brocade quilt with “#” markings; it is a brownish-yellow cotton plain weave with colorful velvet “#”-shaped decorations and bordered with diamond shapes. The other one is “Hundred-Flower Brocade” (百花錦道條), which is also a brownish-yellow cotton plain weave bordered with diamond shapes, but decorated with multi-colored silk “卍” and chrysanthemum patterns. Nowadays the materials and weaving techniques used during the Qing dynasty are still used in the Zhuang people’s daily weaving of brocade. One type is a floral quilt cover with white cotton thread as a foundation and floral designs formed with black cotton thread. Another is a multi-colored jacquard woven with colorful silk or cotton thread.23
Wu Wei-Feng, 1995, “Zhuangzu lishi shang de fangzhi yie,” Guangxi minzu yanjiu Vol. 2, 1995, p. 55.
Bronze Drum
Bronze drums in China are mainly found in Guangxi and Yunnan, where they are seen as musical instruments, treasure, and items for religious ceremonies. Bronze drums are used by many ethnic groups, not just the Zhuang people. For example, bronze drums are a necessity in the funerals of the “White Trousers” Yao people in Nandan, Guangxi. The artistic value of bronze drums is reflected in the carvings, paintings and other decorations on them, as well as the music they create and the dances that accompany it. So far the oldest bronze drums that have been found in Guangxi date back to around the 2nd century B.C. Discoveries of bronze drums have been made in as early as the Ming Dynasty Wanli period (1572–1620) in Guangxi’s Guiping and Xunjiang, and displayed in buildings of local authorities or temples. Today, in additional to the Museum of the Zhuang Nationality Autonomous Region, Guangxi, there are also private collectors of bronze drums here, such as a Zhuang man Wei Wan-Yi from Donglan County, Guangxi. He acquired the nickname of “Bronze Drum King” for his large collection of bronze drums. The most common carvings found on bronze drums are of the frog. The frog is a symbol of rain; the main theme of “Maguai Festival” (螞拐(虫字旁)節), a festival still celebrated by the Zhuang people in Guangxi’s Donglan, Fengshan, Bama, and Nandan, is frog worshipping.24
“Tiaoshi” is a ceremonial activity conducted by Zhuang priests (shigong). “Shi gong” belief is thought to be a Zhuang religion with primitive sorcery as a foundation and later combined with Taoism. The priests wear masks when they perform “tiao shi,” which is why it is considered an expansion of the “nuo dance” performed in ancient courts. The formerly strictly religious “tiao shi” later became a performance with entertainment and artistic value. “Tiao shi” is generally a collaborative performance—some priests are responsible for the dancing part, some sing, and some accompany with musical instruments. Priests control the “wutan” (武壇), where they ask a god to descend and put on the mask representing that god. Some gods are to be invited at every ceremony, during which pieces such as “Gongcao” (功曹), “Tudi” (土地), and “Sanyuan” (三元) are performed. In addition to this, certain gods are summoned during specific ceremonies; for example, when praying for flowers, the priests will perform “Flower King” (花王), and at funerals the priests will perform “The Twenty-four Filial Acts” (二十四孝), “Mulian” (目連), and “Ten Months of Pregnancy” (十月懷胎).25
See Gu Yue-Zhen, 1997, Guangxi nuo wenhua zhishi (Nanning: Guangxi Yishu Yanjiushe, Minzu Yishu Zazhishe).
delayed-domicile marriage
This is a marriage custom of the Zhuang and Tong peoples. After a woman is married, she does not move into the husband’s house immediately; until she becomes pregnant and gives birth to her first child, the wife only goes to her husband’s house upon the request of the women from her husband’s family when there is work to be done or important guests that need to be greeted. Although in some regions this period of “not living in the husband’s household” is becoming shorter, and some brides symbolically return to her parents’ house for only a few days before moving out to live with her husband, this custom is still quite popular within the Zhuang people. Before the wife officially moves into the husband’s house, they both retain the freedom to socialize, and any income that the wife makes during this period will remain her own. When the wife is pregnant with her first child, she must spend the duration of her pregnancy in her husband’s house and give birth there, after which she is finally considered an official member of her husband’s household.
Teknonymy
This means that after a couple has named their first child, their elders and older peers must use the child’s name to call the couple. For example, if the child’s name is “Mei,” her father should be called “Bamei” and her mother called “Mamei.” If the husband happens to be the eldest son to his parents, then the child’s grandfather will be called “Gongmei,” and the grandmother “Pomei.”
Secondary Burial (Bone Cleaning)
The Zhuang people have the custom of holding a “secondary burial” for the deceased. When a person dies, he or she is buried in a wooden coffin, and dug out after a few years for a “bone cleaning” burial. The date and location for this second funeral must be chosen carefully, for this will affect the luck of the deceased person’s descendants. Most people will hold the bone cleaning ceremony in the winter or spring. The evening before they open the coffin to collect the bones, relatives worship before the grave and inform the deceased that they are going to move him or her. The men are in charge of digging up the coffin while the women shield the opened grave with their umbrellas. Usually, it is the duty of the eldest son or grandson of the deceased to clean the bones, dry them over fire, and arrange them in a clay jar (or “gold jar”) so that the human skeleton would appear to be in a squatting position. The jar is then sealed, wrapped with red fabric, and carried by the eldest son or the eldest son’s wife to a new grave to be buried and worshipped with an offering of chicken and wine. On their way home the relatives would each hold a burning stick of incense to lead the deceased person’s spirit home, and after they reach home the incense sticks are placed into the burner that is designated for ancestral worship to symbolize that the deceased person’s spirit has transformed into an ancestor. This type of funeral ritual reflects the belief that a deceased person can only return to where his or her ancestors are after the “secondary burial.”26
See Lu Min-Fei, 1986, “Zhuangzu shi gu zang shuyi,” Guangxi minzu yanjiu, vol. 4, 1989, pp. 84-89.
